Dr
Halat said: "Those of us who deem ourselves followers of St Francis
of Assisi, eagerly notice that many dog owners somehow resemble their
pets and many dogs resemble their owners. The most striking common
feature of the human - dog interspecies resemblance seems to
be a very strong tendency to follow stimulants
recognized as
pleasure inducing, a propensity which may be named 'hedonetropism'.
Human beings are pleasure oriented, just like dogs. But unlike the
dog, the human person is capable to ascend to one of three
higher
branches of the Happiness Tree, which were named by Fr. Robert J.
Spitzer, SJ: felix
- good life, beatitudo
- serving others, and sublime
beatitudo
- God's Love. Our closest and oldest companions - dogs will never climb
up the Happiness Tree, and by their nature are limited to occupy its
lowest branch, named laetus
- bodily pleasure. Unfortunately, some people resemble dogs with their
hedonetropic behaviour."

Hedonetropism is
an innate tendency of doing something again and again what gives
pleasure, in response to pleasant stimulants.

Dogs
have been the best companions people have for tens of thousands of
years. Human beings are pleasure oriented, just like dogs. But unlike
the dog, the human person is capable to ascend to higher than bodily
pleasure branch of the Happiness Tree.

Jan
van Eyck: Portret van Giovanni Arnolfini en zijn vrouw, 1434 (Portrait
of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife). The dog symbolizes the
hedonetropic sexual desire, one of the most fundamental ingredients of
a happy and fruitful marriage.

Hedonetropism
(in Greek Ἡδονήτροπισμός from: ἡδονή [hēdonē] pleasure, and τροπή
[trope] a turning) is an innate tendency, natural inclination, or
propensity to act in a certain manner of doing something again and
again what gives pleasure, in response to pleasant stimulants.

St.
Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) famous for kinship with all
creatures (cf. Laudato sie, mi Signore cum tucte le Tue
creature
- Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, The Canticle of the Sun, also
known as the Laudes Creaturarum (Praise of the Creatures)here;
He called all beasts his brethren.The Golden Legend (Aurea
Legenda) Compiled by Jacobus de Voragine, 1275, Englished by William
Caxton, 1483 Volume 5hereHere followeth the Life of S.
Francis, first beginner of the friars minor, and first of his namehere

"The most widespread form of
interspecies bonding occurs between humans and dogs" (Tacon, Paul; Pardoe, Colin
(2002). "Dogs make us human". Nature Australia 27 (4): 52–61).
The dog domestication process probably began as long ago as 35,000
years, and Predmosti in Czech Republic Předmostí u Přerova
(archeologická lokalita) boast to be a location of the oldest
known case of domestication (Czech: nejstarší známý případ domestikace
v dějinách). For centuries, the most prominent artists
painted the dog as a symbol of carnal desires, lust, as well
as
fidelity; these two characteristics for many seem incompatible
with one exception of the mutually faithful and sexually satisfied
married couple.

The
Dog as a Symbol of Hedonetropism in paintings of Jan Havickszoon Steen
( c. 1626 – 1679)

Soo
de ouden songe, soo pijpen de jonghen, 1665. (As the Old Sing, So
Twitter the Young (The way you hear it, is the way you sing it). The
dog placed in the foreground calls attention to the top position of
satisfying carnal desires among all other pleasing behaviours like
intoxicating with nicotine and alcohol. Now we are aware of the role of
brain
chemicals.

Herberginterieur
met een oude man, die zich amuseert met de waardin, en triktrakspelers,
bekend als 'Tweeërlei spel", 1660 (Interior of an inn with an old man
amusing himself with the landlady and two men playing backgammon, known
as ‘Two kinds of games"). No comments needed to the dog's pose and
placing.